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• at-home
  at-home

  noun

  Also at home a reception of visitors at certain hours at one's home.
• at home
  at home

  In one's own residence, town, or country. For example, Mary was not at home when I called , or Tourists in a foreign country often behave more rudely than they do at home . This idiom was first recorded in a ninth-century treatise.

at-home

American  

[at-hohm] / ætˈhoʊm /

noun

1. Also at home a reception of visitors at certain hours at one's home.

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adjective

1. done or used in the home; intended for one's home.

   a new line of at-home computers; at-home assignments for free-lance workers.

at-home British  

noun

1. another name for open day

2. a social gathering in a person's home

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at home Idioms  

1. In one's own residence, town, or country. For example, Mary was not at home when I called , or Tourists in a foreign country often behave more rudely than they do at home . This idiom was first recorded in a ninth-century treatise.

2. Ready to receive a visitor, as in We are always at home to our neighbor's children . This usage gave rise to the noun at-home , meaning a reception to which guests are invited on a specific day at specific hours (also see open house ). [c. 1600]

3. Also, at home with . Comfortable and familiar, as in Mary always makes us feel at home , or I've never been at home with his style of management . [Early 1500s] Also see at ease , def. 1.

4. Also, at home with . Proficient, well-versed in, as in Young John is so much at home with numbers that he may well become a mathematician , or Chris is really at home in French . [Late 1700s]

5. In team sports, playing on one's own field or in one's own town. For example, The Red Sox always do better at home than they do at away games .

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Etymology

Origin of at-home

First recorded in 1740–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at-home at home

Initiatives including A&E blood tests, GP registration testing and free at-home tests have helped to find people who were previously undiagnosed, says NHS England.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

You could purchase a hybrid life insurance and long-term-care policy for around $100,000 to $200,000, leaving you the funds to cover at-home care if you needed it down the road.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

An increased reliance on “premium formats” may seem like an obvious weapon in the increasingly one-sided war between at-home and theatrical viewing, but it is not the answer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Americans have largely heard about the famous French creche system of public daycares, but the French government also subsidizes the kind of one-on-one at-home care that many parents of infants prefer.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

But on the eve of the stay- at-home the entire English-language press crumbled and urged people to go to work.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Unable to export their oil products and stuck with price caps that have hammered margins at home, Chinese refineries started to cut runs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

I never felt at home in my identity until I met my new neighbor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Mr. Power’s previous books have mostly been about 18th-century writers, yet he is as much at home with recent free verse as with rhymed couplets and sonnets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Then comes the admission that captures the agony of those waiting at home: "What do I tell you? Sleepless nights, working on the phone."

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The bus driver would be alive at home with his family, if he had a family.

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Related Words

• banquet
• barbecue
• bash
• feast
• festivity
• gala
• luncheon
• reception
• shindig